Brandon Walsh
Brandon Walsh, portrayed by Jason Priestley, was the longtime male lead of Beverly Hills, 90210, and the first character introduced in the ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' continuity. To date, his substantial role throughout the first series marks his only appearance in the franchise. Character Overview After moving from Minnesota to California with their parents, Jim and Cindy, Brandon and his sister Brenda enrolled in West Beverly Hills High School. There, they would meet several new friends. A largely virtuous and ethical character, Brandon gained numerous admirers throughout the course of the series. He attracted the romantic attention of many women, and earned the respect of several friends—notably Steve Sanders and Dylan McKay. Brandon's sister Brenda was also shown to harbor a particular fondness for his character at times, openly telling him at one point that he truly was her best friend. In response, Brandon stated that he hoped he always would be. Brandon was the last Walsh to leave his family's iconic home in Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 1 The moral center of the show and the glue that holds the gang together (and Priestley was the group's offscreen "quarterback").1 After his initial difficulties with Beverly Hills, he became loved by many and liked by all. In Season 1, after one of his drinks was spiked at a party, he briefly experienced a problem with drinking which led to the demise of his first cherished car (which he called 'Mondale'), and a night in jail Season 2 Season 2, like season 1, was mostly focused on episodic stories for the characters and had little arcs for each of them. Brandon leaves his job at the Peach Pit to work as a cabana boy at the beach club for the summer in an effort to buy a car. When school starts, he becomes besotted with the new girl in town, Emily Valentine, and the two begin dating, eventually breaking up after she slips U4EA in his drink at a club. Emily becomes obsessed with Brandon, stalking him with phone calls and gifts left on his doorstop. When she attempts suicide, she's checked into a clinic and Brandon goes to visit her. Season 3 Brandon developed a serious gambling problem, which Nat, his boss at the Peach Pit, bailed him out of after he got into trouble with a mobster bookmaker after Brandon placed a few too many sports bets that he could not cover the expense of. Season 4 Brandon starts college with the rest of the gang and while he has several episodic storylines, he is largely a supporting character in this season with no real arc of his own that spans several shows. Season 5 Brandon started Season having spent the entire summer with Kelly Taylor, having hidden their relationship from everyone except for Jim and Cindy Walsh. When Dylan returned from the road drunk and disheveled, Brandon tried to break the news to him, but was unable to find the proper words when he saw how bad of shape Dylan was emotionally. However, Nat accidentally let it slip to Dylan, who caused a scene at a benefit given by Felice Martin. Brandon and Dylan had heated words over Kelly and the friendship between the two of them was strained. Brandon was then pulled into student politics as the running mate of Josh Richland. They were underdogs, but Brandon's speech about student politics to the student body gave them a boost. When a campaign manager, Alex Diaz, tried to imply Brandon took D'Shawn Hardell's exams for him, it backfired and gave Josh and Brandon even more votes. On the night of the election, the duo surprisingly won, but Josh was killed in a car accident, leaving Brandon to hold the office alone. Alex Diaz then contested Brandon's appointment, stating the rules of succession were not clear and had never been challenged. Brandon continued to call every Senate meeting to order while the university considered Alex's protest. Brandon was eventually sworn in as student body president and had to deal with many issues while in office. After the ordeal with the Senate was resolved, Brandon had to deal with the return of Emily Valentine simultaneously occurring with Kelly getting badly burned at a rave thrown by Steve Sanders and Griffin Stone. Brandon and Emily bid each other farewell before Emily walked out of his life for good. However, Kelly had been emotionally damaged by the fire and was taken advantage of by The New Evolution, a cult headed up by Abnormal Psychology professor Patrick Finley. Despite many protests by Brandon and some confrontations with Finley, Brandon couldn't get her to listen to him. Desperate for help, Brandon turned to Dylan, who went undercover with The New Evolution and found out they were only out to gain as much monetary assistance as they could. Dylan set it up so Finley would tell Kelly to sleep with him, but Brandon had a plan in effect. With a tip from Milton Arnold, Brandon located Professor Finley's former teaching assistant, Greg Jarret, who informed Kelly of the real intentions of the New Evolution. She then left them and came back to Brandon. Brandon spent the rest of the season battling with Dylan over Kelly's affections and simultaneously saying goodbye to his parents, Jim and Cindy Walsh, as well as Andrea Zuckerman and Jesse Vasquez, all of whom left town. After Kelly chose neither Dylan nor Brandon, Brandon drank his sorrows away at a party in Palm Springs before catching a bus home with Dylan McKay. Season 6 At the beginning of the season, Brandon went to work at the California University newspaper, The Condor. There, he clashed with the editor, Susan Keats, a feminist that refused to date co-workers. However, Brandon eventually wore her down and they began dating. Meanwhile, Dylan McKay had started a vendetta against Anthony Marchette, the man who supposedly killed his father, Jack McKay. Brandon was able to find some information on Marchette for Dylan, who began romancing Marchette's daughter, Antonia Marchette. Brandon and Susan did many double dates with Dylan and Toni, all the while Brandon trying to get Dylan to drop his vendetta for Toni's sake. Eventually, Dylan and Toni got married, but the night after the wedding, Brandon received a call from Bruno, who warned Brandon that Marchette was going to kill Dylan. Brandon tried to get to Dylan before the hit went off, but in all of the confusion, Toni was killed by bullets meant for Dylan. Brandon and all of their friends attended Toni's funeral before Brandon and Dylan exchanged heartfelt goodbyes. After Dylan left, Brandon and Susan began having some issues, with Susan insecure over Kelly Taylor's presence in their lives and Brandon insecure over Susan's ex, Jonathan Casten, returning to Beverly Hills to win Susan over. However, after Jonathan left town following a Susan Keats right hook, Brandon and Susan strengthened their relationship by getting stranded on a ski run, meeting Susan's overbearing parents, and planning a trip across America for the summer. However, after Brandon turned down an offer from a major newspaper in Boston at Susan's request for a summer trip, Susan took a job working on the Presidential campaign in Washington, D.C., despite Brandon's objections. They broke up and Susan left Los Angeles. However, before Brandon left for his trip, he and Steve were able to chase Colin Robbins, who was a wanted fugitive, down and aid in his trip to prison. Brandon and Kelly later shared a tender moment after learning Dylan and Brenda were together in London. Season 7 After traveling all summer with Steve Sanders following his breakup with Susan Keats, Brandon's car broke down in a small Texas town, where he met a local black woman named Mariah Murphy. After spending time with her, Mariah became inspired to leave the town and travel to New York to try and become an author. Season 8 Along with Steve, Brandon takes over as editor of the Beverly Beat - a tabloid that he and Steve (who is publisher) work to turn around as a reliable newspaper. He and Kelly are together through much of the season with the finale being their wedding day - which neither decide to go through with. Season 9 Brandon only appears in a few episodes in season 9 as Priestley was leaving the show. All appearances ultimately lead up to him severing his relationship with Kelly and eventually accepting a job across the country and moving away from Beverly Hills. Love Life and Nikki]] Brandon had several romantic interests during the course of Beverly Hills, 90210, largely portrayed by series guest stars. Throughout the first two seasons, he was often seen with a love interest for only one episode, as was the case with Sheryl, his old girlfriend from Minnesota. On rarer occasions during this period, he was instead paired with a recurring character, such as the troubled Emily Valentine, or Brooke Alexander, a girl he met during the second summer season. From Season 3 onward, Brandon was given longer-term, more serious relationships. Many of his most notable love interests were girlfriends who'd also marked certain firsts. Of the longtime friends he made in Beverly Hills, Kelly Taylor became the first girl in the circle who he was romantically drawn to. His first committed relationship of the show, however, would come unexpectedly a couple of years later. Kelly Taylor Shortly after his arrival in Beverly Hills, Brandon met a girl named Kelly Taylor, who would become his primary romantic interest throughout his years on the series. Brandon and Kelly became friendly through mutual acquaintances, and harbored secret attractions to one another from the beginning. In time, Kelly grew eager to begin a relationship and excitedly pursued Brandon by arranging a date with him at their Spring Dance. However, Brandon restrained his feelings out of respect for his new friend Steve, who happened to be Kelly’s ex, and because he eventually viewed Kelly as a sister-figure due to her friendship with Brenda. After confronting and resolving these matters, the pair acknowledged their attraction, but initially decided to simply be friends. Years later, Brandon and Kelly’s feelings for one another began to flare once again. It was during this period that Kelly had begun to outgrow her teenage roots, becoming less self-absorbed and revealing a more sensitive and mature side to her personality. This was put on display when Kelly paid Brandon a surprise visit during a trip out of town, and—in contrast to her previous approach—expressed her affections in a very discreet and gradual manner. Brandon, who had lately become closer to Kelly than ever before, was effectively touched by her actions. From that point onward their relationship evolved from simple attraction to a genuinely loving bond. In addition to her relationship with Brandon, Kelly has had long-standing ties to his family. She received motherly affection from Cindy, and shares a close friendship with Brenda. Just before Kelly could become a Walsh herself, however, she and Brandon chose to calmly abort their wedding in the eighth season; they parted on friendly terms in the ninth. Andrea Zuckerman While Brandon and Andrea never dated, she harbored a crush for him during their high school years and was frequently jealous of his flavor-of-the-week girl. They had a somewhat hostile and flirty relationship in the early years during their work on The Blaze, the high school paper, with Andrea calling him 'Ace' and Brandon calling her 'Chief' (nicknames that got their start with somewhat bitter intentions but later turned into affectionate terms of endearments as the series wore on). Brandon never considered dating Andrea, but in the time the Walsh family thought they were going to move back to Minnesota, Andrea tells Brandon she wants him to be "her first" and the two arrange a rendezvous which never happens as they keep getting interrupted before Jim ultimately decides not to move the family. Brandon also gets a little jealous when Andrea is dating someone else - going so far as kissing her and telling her to break a date with her summer boyfriends which she refuses to do. The two are never seriously romantically involved but they do maintain a close friendship throughout the series and Andrea frequently refers to him as her best friend and goes to him with her problems. Brandon is one of the first people she confesses her pregnancy to in season 4 and he supports her through her decision. The two remain friends even after Andrea leaves Beverly Hills and whenever she comes back for reunions or parties, he was always happy to see her. Emily Valentine Brandon met Emily Valentine towards the beginning of the second season, in the episode Wild Fire. It is Emily's first day and she runs into, and makes dates, with both Brandon and Dylan. Brandon and Emily become close friends and soon start dating; their first kiss was at the Peach Pit on Halloween. Emily convinces the gang to visit an underground club where she takes U4EA and spikes Brandon's drink with the same drug. Afterwords, Brandon breaks up with Emily. She can't accept it an starts stalking Brandon, sending him cakes and making prank phone calls. After some bitter interactions, Emily douses a West Beverly homecoming float with flammable liquid. Brenda and Dylan arrive to the scene, and after seeing the lighter in Emily's hand, Brenda talks Emily down. It is soon revealed that Emily has been institutionalized, and Brandon visits her at Christmas. In the fourth season, Brandon feels troubled and goes on a search for Emily. He bumps into her on a streetcar in San Francisco and they share Thanksgiving weekend together. The couple declare their love and passion, but eventually Emily reveals that she is moving to France after Thanksgiving. They say goodbye and it is revealed in the fifth season that she never called him when she arrived in Paris. In the fifth season, Emily calls Brandon to ask him to meet her at the airport, supposedly for a short stop over visit. They eventually share a kiss, even though Brandon is with Kelly. Brandon realizes he still has feelings for Emily but things get complicated when Kelly gets burned in a house fire. Emily, acknowledging that Brandon is in love with Kelly and that she needs him, encourages both Kelly and Brandon to find their way back to one another. Nikki Witt Nikki Witt, played by Dana Barron, provided Brandon with his first steady on-screen romance, subsequently becoming his first serious girlfriend in Beverly Hills. Meeting in Season 3, Brandon and Nikki dated from the beginning of the school year until Christmas, separating when she moved home to San Francisco. They were introduced through several occurrences of bumping into each other at school. Via a mixture of charm, humor, and friendly conversation, they gradually became more interested in one another. Though Brandon initially resisted her upon learning of their age difference, Nikki—aware that their attraction was mutual—maintained interest, eventually winning his affection. Lucinda Nicholson Introduced in Season 4, Lucinda Nicholson, played by Dina Meyer, was a married professor at Brandon’s university. Prior to meeting her, Brandon was not shown to have dated anyone notably older than himself. Though they at first had reservations about seeing each other, they eventually embarked on a brief and secret affair. After finding himself displeased with some of Lucinda’s actions—which included taking a romantic interest in Dylan—Brandon ended the relationship. Susan Keats was Brandon's girlfriend in season six. They met when Brandon applied at CU's newspaper the Condor, of which Susan was editor. Their relationship lasted the majority of season six until Susan accepted a job in Washington and left Beverly Hills. Brandon also dated Tracy Gaylion but as much as Tracy loved him, Brandon was unable to reciprocate due to his love for Kelly. Brandon and Kelly got back together shortly after he and Tracy broke up. Trivia * He's a scorpio (Episode "Neccesity Is A Mother) Quotes *"It's always been my problem - lots of protection but no one to protect." - The First Time *"If I accidentally make eye contact with her, she pretends she's looking over the rainbow or something." - The Gentle Art of Listening *"Seldom right and wrong again, Steve." *"I'm the student body president, I am not Batman." *"You got what you deserved!" (To the man who shot Kelly) *"Ever get the feeling the entire world is flying in first class and your stuck with a folding chair in the baggage compartment?" *"Would you go be a bitch somewhere else, please?" (To Valerie) *"Steve, I love you man, but if you were any dumber you'd require fertilizer." *"I don't think women can be jerks. That's a name reserved for us men." *"What is it with me Nat? Everytime I get involved with a woman, it just falls apart. I must have bad relationship karma or something." *"Emily, to make love, I have to be in love." *"I don't waltz, I don't rumba, I don't fox trot, I don't boogie, I don't dance. I don't even like to be in the same room with people who are dancing." Category:Beverly Hills, 90210 Characters Category:Walsh Family Category:Beverly Hills, 90210